THIEVES LIKE US

 Edward Anderson's novel "Thieves Like Us" was originally filmed in 1948 by Nicholas Ray as 'They Live By Night', a 'Bonnie & Clyde' style gangster picture, falling somewhere between a film-noir and the kind of film Warner Brothers might have turned out in the thirties and it generated its own excitement. This version, by Robert Altman and made in 1974, kept the original title but Altman drew all the excitement out of it. This is a strangely bloodless affair. As you might expect, however, it's very 'cinematic', stunningly shot by Jean Boffety and very well acted by members of Altman's stock company but it lacks the buzz a good Depression-era gangster film should have. It's fatalistic and yet you never feel involved with any of the characters. It's one of those films you admire but don't actually like even if it never puts a foot wrong. Still, leads Keith Carradine and Shelley Duvall are superb and that's enough to be getting on with.